


Persona-ly I'm unprepared for this

by LoganAura



Category: Miraculous Ladybug, Persona Series
Genre: Canon Typical Violence, Gen, Mythological representations, Other, an over analysis of characters in a children's cartoon to represent them in persona ways
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:21:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24212812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoganAura/pseuds/LoganAura
Summary: Persona/Miraculous Ladybug crossover fanfiction. Inspired by a few other fics but wanted to throw my own hat into the ring.They looked up from their laptop, concerned. Glancing around everyone around them seemed to have... stopped, a sickly neon green glow surrounding most of the room they were in as a pounding heartbeat thudded in their ears. Their head whipped around, staring at the room in shock and moving to shut their laptop, but a pair of yellow eyes stared at them intensely. "I am thou... Thou art I... Soon the world's eyes will turn your way, and we must prepare for this."They snapped it shut firmly, and almost immediately broke whatever spell was upon their classmates as a head turned to them. "You ok?"
Relationships: Also expect like vaguely poly/consensually nonmonogamy, various
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	1. ?/? - ?

_?/? - Inside of ???  
  
I didn't know how long I was standing here._

_Hours_

_Days_

_Weeks. However long it's been, it was too long. I wasn't hungry, but my body was weak. I wasn't tired, but my mind ached. I wasn't even given the reprieve of any sort of sleep, because the moment I did, they would tug at my binds, slamming me back against the wall harshly._

_"_ Now now, we don't have time for rest, not when **They** are coming soon like they promised." _A cold finger trailed along a floating screen nearby, watching the group slowly traverse through the landscape I could barely understand._

_The sickly green glow of the world around me pulsed, numbers trailing along and keeping me bound to the wall behind me as I watched... myself, that was the only way to describe them. I watched myself carefully hold onto a small box protectively, glaring at the door to the large chamber i was trapped in._

"They're going to come, and they're going to see exactly who we are~" _Their laugh was hollow, bitter and cold . Similar to the voice pounding in my head for so long. The turned away from the door just long enough to run a hand along my face, golden yellow eyes turning back to the door with a firm glare as it swung open._

 _On the screen I couldn't see exactly who came forth, but the one standing at the forefront tugged off their visor as a bright blue flame appeared around him, summoning some large, masculine figure above his head as someone called out "_ Leader, be careful!" _From the back, but the one at the point of the group grinned back, turning his own golden eyes to me._

" _Don't worry dudes and dudettes, We've got it covered." The figure blasted a rush of wind at the copy of me in front of me, making them hiss out and glare him down, and from where I was I could see..._

... _Nino?_

* * *

_Autumn- Velvet Room_

Nino felt a fog in his head as he woke up. Or at least, he thought he had woken up. It took him a second to register that he wasn't sitting at his desk at his house, having fallen asleep in the middle of mixing a song, and instead was staring down at a deep blue mixing board in front of him. After a few seconds for his eyes to adjust and to pull his glasses from nearby, he blinked, looking around the room. 

At first glance, he could register that it was a relatively higher end recording studio that he sat in, only the room itself had been more or less slathered in various shades of blue. Even the instruments he could see in the recording booth were the same, from the microphone stand at center, to the keyboard nearby. Even on the side of the booth he was on, the mixer and the intercom to converse within the soundproof studio were all different blues, with the occasional neon light on the digital display in front of him. A door nearby stood ajar, but his curiosity got the better of him as he tapped the intercom button, leaning forward and speaking into it. "Hello?"

"Good evening." Nino jolted up in shock, hat flying off his head as a pair of individuals suddenly appeared in the recording room, replacing the microphone in a low foggy shift to a simple table, a man with a balding head, a long nose, and bloodshot eyes sitting there with a warm smile, though looking severely drained as the blond beside him rested a hand on the shoulder. Nino glanced the blond up and down, quickly noticing the clipboard and the attire he had seen on some of the more foreign pop star types he's seen. Not his music scene, but you spend enough time with Adrien and you appreciate some fashion sense.

Nino adjusted his hat for a second, rubbing the back of his head as the blond bowed down. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Sir. My name is Victor, and this is my master, Igor." Igor quickly nodded his head, letting the blond speak. "Normally my Master is the one to explain everything to you but after a... recent situation, he is currently recovering. Welcome to the Velvet Room, Mr. Lahiffe. A place between dreams and reality, between the physical and the ethereal."

Aaand Nino was lost as is. "Er. Nice to meet you both. I'm... a little lost though." Nino looked down at the mixer in front of him, unconciously twiddling with a few of the knobs and letters as he spoke. "This feels like magic stuff, is it magic?" Igor let a low chuckle out as Nino paused his fiddling, pulling his hands back.

"Ah, it seems like you've already had some experience with the supernatural? This will hopefully mean things won't be too unusual for you then." Igor pulled a deck of tarot cards out from their case on top of the table and started to shuffle them.

Victor tapped on his clipboard gently and pulled the top page off of it, sliding it through the glass as it phased through as though it was not there, the paper landing in front of Nino along with a quill appearing out of nowhere. "We are here to guide you through the upcoming year. You will face many hardships, some that your role as Carapace-" There was a quick sputter Victor ignored. "Have helped prepare you for, and many challenges that you will learn to prepare yourself for as the year progresses. However- As is customary. A contract must be signed."

Nino looked down on the contract, brow furrowing as he read the one line upon it. "I will take responsibility for my choices." He glanced down at it for about half a second before shaking his head, looking at the page intensely and even holding it up to a nearby light. "I got tricked once by an iffy contract so just making sure. Not that I don't trust you guys, but I just metcha."

Seeing no fine print, Nino quickly pulled the quill out of the ink, and signed it- twice even. Once using his real name- Nino Lahiffe- and because he felt that would be fair, signing it with the little turtle drawing he used as a small signature the few times he was called upon and needed to. The page floated back over to Victor, and he smiled warmly, bowing again to Nino.

"For now, we must return you to the waking world. When the time comes, we will ask you to come again." Victor bows gently as the ill Igor flipped over a series of cards, The fool- one he expected- surrounded by the knights of Wands, Cups, and Swords.

Nino scratched at the back of his head again, feeling his consciousness fade and with a soft yawn, falling back asleep at the mixing board and disappearing in a series of blue lights. Victor gently reached over, flipping a pair of cards and frowning. "His situation is a lot more complicated than it appears at first glance, Master. Especially mixing the Miraculous magic in with Personas."

"I agree, though that is why you need to keep a more... hands on approach to our guest. While I am recovering, who's to say you will not be able to lean on the rules of this room, Victor." With a nod, Igor faded away in the same blue lights Nino had, and Victor moved towards the operation's side of the booth, patiently waiting.

* * *

9/7. Mon.- Paris, Nino's House

With a jolt and a snort, Nino woke up from his dream, staring at the saved file on his computer and quickly clambering to hit save, noticing a small blue keycard left in his keyboard that he quickly shoved into his wallet.

"Guess that wasn't a dream... I wonder if I can ask Ladybug or Chat Noir if they know anything about that." With a shake of his head, and quickly rummaging around to get his outfit and bag ready, Nino darted off to school, a low noise buzzing in the back of his mind that he tried to ignore.


	2. 9/7 - A Normal[?] Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stuff be going fast cause early persona games are dull. Forgive me.

_9/7- Morning. Class_

Nino yawned softly as he stretched his arms overhead, leaning back in his chair and glancing over to Alya sitting beside him. Another schoolyear had started, another year of their normal classwork, needing to bug Adrien for help in sciences, Marinette with help for art, Alya with help for Tech-y classes. Nino wasn't the worst student, but he was well aware of his faults. Alya was quietly tapping her fingers against her laptop, waiting for Ms Bustier- who they somehow once again had for a homeroom teacher- to arrive and take roll.

He glanced around the room quickly, taking a quick stock of who was in the room. Seeing as their class the year before had almost entirely been akumatized, or in the cases of Adrien and Marinette- seemed to consistently get caught up in them, the school kept them together again "To protect them if Hawkmoth attempts to abuse that.". Nino knew for a fact their class- sans Chloe who had been under some severe watch after the "Miracle Queen" event and was taken out of school altogether, at least for now, and Lila who had returned to Italy over the summer and warned she'd be coming back to France a few weeks late at the earliest, unless her Mom's job kept her from coming back. It was essentially a rehash of the start of the school year, just plus one nice blond and minus one bitchy one.

... Nino winced, rubbing the back of his head as he thought that over, deciding not to dwell on it.

Marinette was late- as always- and he glanced over at Adrien tapping his pencil against the desk gently. Marinette had actually asked if she could switch with Nino when Ms Bustier originally assigned her and Alya sit together, saying something about "You should hang out with your boyfriend." When Alya asked. He didn't pay much attention to the conversation after that, it wasn't really his place.

He leaned over behind his girlfriend to look at her screen. "... Babe, you've been rewriting the same line for the past twenty minutes. You ok?'

Alya took a few seconds to reply, stifling another yawn and snapping her laptop shut rather roughly. "Not really. I've been in a slump. I was hoping doing some research on the Frustration Forum'd help me get out of this funk with the Ladyblog, but it's only getting ME frustrated."

Nino adjusted his cap, tilting his head to the side.

"... Frustration Forum?"

"You haven't heard?" Nino jumped, turning back to see Rose's wide eyes and Juleka's indifferent ones, the latter turning away when Nino stared at her and Rose clasping her hands near her face. "It's supposedly this magic website! There's no way to log onto it normally, or even if you try with your computer connected it never reaches, but if you're in a dark room and disconnect your computer from everything, then type in "FrustrationForum.Fr", you discover a website that airs all the grievences of Parisians! There's no way to make an account, and every post is made by someone anonymous, but if you know them well enough sometimes you can figure out who's who! Heck, they've actually been posting videos recently too! But the video is all foggy and staticky, and the voices in them are garbled to no end! It's so intriguing!"

Nino stared at her for a second, turning to Alya. "You're also surprised she's excited about this right?"

The journalist shrugged gently. "I mean, it's magic and we live where we have powerful superheros fighting a supervillan who possesses someone practically every day. Something that's less dangerous is going to be more interesting. I've been checking it out the past couple of nights in case it's got something to do with Hawkmoth and Ladybug or Chat Noir need to be kept to speed with it, but the stuff people're posting are almost all minor." Alya's mouth opened as she let out another wide yawn before Juleka leaned forward.

"You, haven't noticed?" Juleka fiddled with her laptop for a few seconds, and turned it to Alya, showing the front page . The colors were a garrish neon green backdrop with pitch black font that hurt Nino's eyes to look at, and she tapped the first three results... All of which seemed to complain about some "Wannabe journalist."

Alya's hand waved Juleka off as she turned forward, watching Marinette stumble into the classroom a few seconds before the bell rang, followed by Ms Bustier. "It's about some tabloidist and some papparazzi. Who cares about it."

For a second, Nino could almost swear he saw Marinette's shoulders tense up at those words, and while Alya was called on for attendance, he watched her glance back towards Alya with a frown.

* * *

9/7 - Lunchtime

"Hey Nette, can I talk to you?" Nino tapped her shoulder, causing the small girl to yelp and drop her purse, and he caught it quickly. "Sorry."

"No no It's fine." Marinette fiddled with a strand of her hair, looking around for a second as everyone moved out of the classroom, Alya waving the two off. "You sure you want to talk to me?"

He shrugged. "Lila's not around, so your jealousy'n all that's not an issue." Her shoulders slumped as he said that and he tried to give her a warm smile. "Besides, with her in Italy you and Alya've been talking again?"

Marinette frowned for a second. "It's not... back to normal. She at least apologized for immediately blowing me off when Lila came, but she's still a little bit. I don't know." she put her purse over her head and flailed her arms about. "Starstruck? About Lila? I think that's the best word for it. It still really hurts how easily she and everyone kind of..." The word trailed off and Nino shook his head, putting a hand on Marinette's shoulder.

"It's all right. Honestly, I'd be surprised if you forgave all of us immediately and went back to normal." He shook his head quietly and chuckled low. "Honestly, If you up and changed cities or moved to New York and took that internship, I wouldn't be surprised. I'm glad we were able to talk a bit of sense into some people at least." Nino chuckled, remembering how surprised their classmates were when he and Alya brought up needing to start paying Marinette for baked goods and outfits and crafts and the like. It took a bit- and Adrien reacting shocked that anyone expected something for free from her especially. People were still a bit off around her of course, her attitude to Lila...

Another twitch, Nino pushing that thought back again with a temple rub. "Anyway. Why'd you glance back at Alya earlier?"

Marinette paused for a few seconds, twisting her foot on the ground as a silence started to drag, glancing down. "... One of those posts is my issues with her right now. The wording's a lot harsher than I'd actually say, but... honestly just go read it yourself. Find a room with blackout curtians and look for the post from "CookieQueen" Her face scrunched up. "I stumbled on it last night when she asked me to check it over in case she missed something. It's not just me though, there actually was... a lot of posts about "the Ladyblogger" I'm surprised she didn't notice them. All of them were talking about how the site was turning the whole thing into a **Tabloid**. " Marinette glanced down at her phone right as an akuma alarm rung out from it and Nino's. She quickly turned and waved. "Gotta run to lunch! Stay safe, it's across town but you never know."

Nino nodded, glancing down and gently holding on to his right wrist with a small sigh. "Yeah... I will."

* * *

Nino sighed, staring at his open laptop and tapping the keys nervously. The school paper was never actually done in their clubroom, especially since it was all digital nowadays, so the little basement clubroom Alya and a few other students technically held was as good a place as any to try this. He slid into a seat, opening his laptop and quickly moving his mouse down to the wifi, disconnecting.

"... What am I doing." He lent back in his chair, arms crossed and pulling his hat off, running his hand against his head. "This isn't something for me to be doing. I'm not a journalist or a hero. Why am I trying to look through this." He tossed his hat to the side, moving to the search bar and typing the url in, wincing when the garrish green lit up the room, squinting to try and look through the forum posts for what they were talking about. 

He rubbed at his eyes as he scrolled through a few posts down, blinking as one stood out to him. Clicking it he quietly read the post out loud.

" _The turtle simply decides to recede into his shell, not even bothering to act as though he is able to view the world around him. When things aren't directly involving him, he couldn't even care less about what other people're doing, in favor of hiding to protect himself?"_

... There was a low noise as he kept scrolling, seeing a few more posts about "The Turtle". _The turtle is just a follower, he doesn't even have his own real identity. Without his best friend, all he is is just a background piece._

_No one cares about the turtle, not even his girlfriend. She blows him off to chase after **tabloids** and **sensational news** instead of focusing on what's beside her. What a riot._

"Who the hell's posting these?!" Nino pushed his hands down on either side of his laptop, standing up. "No one knew I'm Carapace but hell if this isn't about m-" His eyes darted over, checking the poster. It was anonymous so who really kn-

The newest post, uploaded while he was watching- a video. was posted by **Nino.Lahiffe.**

"... Wha-" On it's own, his laptop opened the video to see an image of himself- almost flat looking appeared in the video. Roughly, a tanned hand reached out of his laptop, grabbing him by the shirt as he screamed in shock- looking like one of those origami papers as it tugged him forward, and with a sickly green glow, Nino disappeared from the club room, his glasses and hat left behind as the chair spun slowly.


	3. 9/7- ?

_I was always on the outskirts of things, even as a child in Morocco, rarely did I ever try my best to stand out for whatever reason. I think that's why I ended up getting drawn towards being a filmmaker or a DJ, they were the subtle things_ _People'd know them, even if they don't always see their faces. And that was fine with me at least to start with_

_Even when I was given my Miraculous, It wasn't like I could really be the one to stand out. Camo coloring, hood, a defensive everything about Carapace implied "Stay back, let other people go." and leave me a supporting role_

_I guess that's why I got a bit stuck in my own head , I wasn't really an important person to a lot of people and there was always this nagging feeling that I could never shake that no matter how hard I tried. Glossing over me, and until I stood beside people who shone a bit, it seemed like I could never really get myself out there. Even with being on a tv show, I got overshadowed- my "Goal" was easy, someone else's was near impossible._

_Maybe if I was just a bit part in someone else's story, and who knows. Maybe if this didn't happen, I would still be_

_But hey._

_Sometimes you've gotta grind your heels in, dig deep, and_

* * *

_..... p_

_Dude .... up_

**_"I said wake up you kwami forsaken_** _**IDIOT**."_ There was a rough hit to Nino's face and he jolted up, knocking into whoever it was who smacked him to wake him up, clattering forehead to forehead and cracking his glasses. 

"Shit, ow. The he-" He paused, eyeing the person who rubbed at their nose in front of him. At first glance, it was almost a caricature of himself as Carapace, the colors more vibrant like his time as Bubbler- the greens and muted browns being more along the lines of an eye-catching neon red and blue, his goggles removed and instead a black domino-mask like eyepiece plastered surrounding bright gold eyes and a sour expression showing as the... Funhouse mirror version of himself it seemed stood, holding his hand out.

 **"Good, you're awake. Listen. This isn't normally how this shit works, but that... 2D us dragged you in here."** The other Nino pulled his hood and grumbled under his breath. **"I'll make this quick. I'm you, just a version of you that you hate to admit exists. Capiche?"**

Nino blinked for a few seconds, completely lost as the looked around. While the room itself seemed similar enough to the newspaper clubroom he had just left, there was a... significant amount of bright green trailing along the walls around the two of them. "I. What? Like, akuma-me?"

The other Nino made a wishy washy gesture with his hand. " **It's complicated. There's some psychological stuff here, but we don't pay enough attention to know the full force of it. I'm your Shadow, so unless Shadow Nino is a bit too much of a tongue twister for ya, "** His Shadow quickly plopped Nino's hat onto the latter's head and he knelt down to stare his counterpart eye to eye. " **We're in danger here. I know a bit just from being a Shadow, but you've got to be careful. That... 2D us wants to overtake you and become the real you. And I don't mean like me. He's... I don't know what he is."**

"The Frustration Forum?" Nino mumbled under his breath, trying to ignore the strain in the back of his head as he slowly stood up with his help. "They were complaining about me, but those... weren't things I thought I was?"

Shadow Nino shrugged for about half a second. **"I mean, We kinda can be a pushover you realize that. Someone who just goes with the flow in hopes that things work out well, even if it means causing issues. Honestly-."** He moved to the door, kneeling down behind it and creaking it open, watching down the hallways for a few seconds before handing Nino the shield on his back, leaving the latter confused. 

Nino shook his head to clear a bit of fog from it as he followed his shadow close behind, slinking through the hallway- once his school now seeming like some sort of newspaper facility. Papers were strewn everwhere with eyecatching headlines and jaw dropping photographs of various heroes in Paris- and the occassional civilian- ink splatters darkening the walls as he followed his shadow even closer. "Ok. So... You're a version of me I don't want to admit?" Nino looked over the hero in front of him and the sheild in his hands before his eyes narrowed. "... The wannabe hero?" The shadow blinked, staring back and smirking

**"Ding ding ding, right in one-"**

"But that's not everything though? I understand that whole" Nino paused, Nino's shadow having shot a hand up and watching a... shadowy figure holding a microphone followed by another with an oversized camera and ducking back where the two of them had came. "That's like. That's more Alya's Schtick."

Shadow Nino chuckled quietly. " **But, our girlfriend's got a bit of an ego problem-"** [Hey!] **"- Oh sure you're denying that but not me. You want to know why I've got this whole garb?"** Nino frowned, sliding into a door to another room, this one full of printing presses firing out pages rapidly. **"Because. You? Want to protect people, but don't think you have the strength to do it without being Carapace."**

Nino's eyes narrowed as the other grinned, watching the hand gripping the shield. "I know I don't. I'm just some normal music-loving teenager in Paris!" Nino shot his hands up into the air, ignoring the paper rustling around them as he stomped his foot in frustration. "Alya's got the most well known blog about the heros, Adrien's a supermodel, Marinette's on a first name basis with like 5 celebrities, Lila's-" Another pulse from the back of his head as he shook it. "- half our class's amazing or special or fantastical and I'm-"

"Just Nino." The shadow spun Nino behind him, glaring as the flat, paper-like Nino- colors faded to a basic black, white, and shades of gray in stark contrast to the herolike shadow. "That's all I am, that's all I ever will be. A supporting character for everyone, not even important enough to have my own Domain here~" 

_Domain?_ Nino winced as a blast of cold energy shot from the paper version of himself's hands, his shadow grabbing the shield and blocking the blast from fully striking the two.

"Now then, Nino, why don't you just do what everyone expects of you. It's so much easier this way isn't it. No expectations,-"

 **"Will you quit the bullshit, your crap already caught the others I'm not letting myself fall."** Nino's shadow skidded back for a second as he rolled his eyes, turning back. **"Ya notice something about me, idiot? I'm your shadow, your true self. The part of you you keep denying deep down.."**

Nino quietly stared, catching his reflection in the shine of the metal shield, staring at the version of himself protecting something important, and his thoughts flicked back to Anasi and protecting Alya.

"I became Carapace not to give me strength, but because I had that strength in me to start." Nino reached forward, spinning the sheild off of his shadow and half-kneeling in front of him, protecting the alternative him as he glared down at the greyscale version hovering in front of himself, floating and snarling, parts of him twisting as Nino heard his shadow chuckle behind himself.

**"Awwwww yeah, time to get this party going!"**

* * *

Nino felt his Shadow wrap itself around him-not literally though, almost a pale fog surrounding him- his outfit shifting to match his shadow's, though more muted reds and browns that flattered him instead of the brighter tones- and instead of his goggles he often had as Carapace, he felt a visor appear on his face- clearing his vision and seeing that the paperlike version of himself weakly pushing towards him at this point had shifted, instead an almost cartoonlike snowman with a blue jaunty hat that recoiled as Nino smirked.

"Guess this bit role's gotten a bit of a big head huh? Maybe I'm not a hero out there facing Hawkmoth, but whatever's going on here is **MY** fight. And I'm going to make sure no one else gets stuck in here against you guys or someone else." In the back of his mind, something pulsed and he swung his sheild out, sending it flying and knocking into the Frozen Clown with a laugh as the creature faded, grinning.

It was a rush that cleared his head. He felt... felt like himself again once his shadow and the greyscale versions of himself both faded, shaking his head.

_Ok. So... Shadow me merged with me and I feel a super super intense rush of power inside me. Maybe this is just my actual power and something's been stopping me from realizing it. Ok, Nino. Let's think. Right now... That "Thing" mentioned this was a Domain. Like a website?" Nino rummaged in the pocket of his new attire and pulled out his phone, flicking to the web browser and checking "recent Searches"_

"... **Tabloid**. Like Marinette said? That explains the paper me, and the ink and stuff. I don't know why I got dragged in here though..." Nino pocketed his phone again and looked around. There weren't any more monsters like the clown, but he really needed to find his way out. Slinking back down, ducking from printer to printing press as he slowly worked down the halls he felt something whispering in the back of his mind.

 _ **"... Hm, this is interesting. Seems as though I haven't truely faded away as I changed from Shadow to Persona. Good, I can still keep an eye on you."**_ The voice chuckled softly and hummed as it advised Nino to duck behind a statue. " _ **I am Jinni.."**_

Nino frowned softly, thinking on that. " _... Ok that makes sense with what you've told me. Now, if you're a Persona- whatever that is- now, do you know anything more about how to get out of here?"_

Jinni softly hummed and a small gust of wind blue forth, pushing Nino down a specific path at a fork in a road. " _ **This way. You might end up seeing something you don't wish to, but those in the velvet room will be of assistance.**_ _"_

He frowned, following the gust through a few more rooms, ducking past a few other creatures- something told him he would absolutely not be prepared to fight someone at the moment- and he slid to what looked to be an entrance hall with a low sigh, grinning wide as he he heard his phone beep. 

_Domain Entrance Found_ Was on a little dropdown bar from his web browser and he sighed in relief as he saw a "Exit?" option appear as well. Before he could tap on it though, his eyes were drawn to the picture hanging on the wall. "... Alya?"

Sure enough, his eyes caught sight of a picture of his girlfriend- however her eyes were glowing gold, her attire instead of her normal clothes having shifted to something similar to the kind of trenchcoat one'd see in an investigative reporter in a noir film-, long, tan, reaching her feet, and a camera held in her hands. "The Ladyblog, greatest source of sensational news this side of the Sienne"

Nino's eyes narrowed at the sight of it, glancing up at the picture and rubbing his chin. " _... Is this a Shadow, or something like the greyscale me?"_

Jinni sighed low. **" _She is an example of someone who is both. Her hidden self that she does not wish to admit is precisely what others see her as. She can break free... But she will need your help to do so. Leave now, we will need rest and we can try and collect ourselves in the real world._** "

Nino quickly nodded, ducking his way towards the door and opening it- yelping as all he saw was obnoxiously green 1s and 0s as far as he could see and chuckling nervously. "Guess... Should just use the browser."

* * *

9/7 - After School

Nino stumbled to focus, feeling himself fade from whatever that whole internet-magic-thing was and falling over in an alleyway outside of school. Looking around, he made sure no one was watching before slowly sliding down and thunking his head against the wall a few times, letting everything sort of. Settle.

1.) He stumbled into some weird bizzare magic bullshit that he's almost certian even Ladybug and Cat Noir know nothing about

2.) Said bizarre magic bullshit also involves people's psychology? Well there went having gym as an elective, he's probably going to need to actually take psyche to make sure he knows at least part of what's going on.

He fiddled with his phone and opened his browser again as he thought over 3.) People who are complained about on the Frustration Forum can develop something called a "domain", where.... he wasn't entirely sure. It looked like it was a mix of what Alya wanted as a reporter, and what people saw her as? Maybe more the first half, the the "Sensational news" stuff could simply be something about her she doesn't like.

and 4.) He could already tell, from the feeling of Jinni in the back of his mind, the weight of the key to the velvet room in his pocket, and the sight of the sun slowly working it's way across the sky in the distance.

This is going to be a long, long year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shadow Nino: Reversed fool represents Recklessness, risk taking, and holding oneself back from growth. I like the idea that Nino- especially when you consider out of everyone in his class he's probably the most "mundane" would have a small complex regarding it, being Carapace and having that taken away kind of probably helped incite that. As such, having Shadow Nino be an antagonist... actually didn't make sense to me, so as you can see, he- as Jinni- is going to be guiding Nino through our early game! Shadow Nino's design being a Carapace/Bubbler hybrid actually came to me because it's a sort of childish comic-book style idea, "I want to be the hero of a story!" boiling down to it, so having him and the Greyscale Nino [What that means will come later] sort of giving a Comic Book/Newspaper Comic contrast .
> 
> Jinni: Fool Arcana. Nino's initial persona. Uses Garu and various other skills. Jinni is, well, the singular form of Jinn- or as a lot of us in the western world know? Genies. Something one would see as a supporting role in a story, wether Arabian Nights or otherwise, but when we see Jinni's full design, a hero in his own right.


End file.
